Ahmad Zia Massoud, ANF: If Taliban Imposed, There will be Resistance

KABUL - The Taliban must be willing to make compromises in nascent peace talks, a prominent Afghan opposition figure said Friday, warning that ethnic minorities who for years battled the Taliban were prepared to take up arms again if they have to give up too much.

Marc Grossman, the U.S. special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, is expected in Kabul at the weekend to discuss progress in negotiations -- seen by their supporters as the best chance of ending a decade-long war -- with Afghan officials.

Afghanistan National Front (ANF) leader Ahmad Zia Massoud, whose brother once led opposition commanders fighting the Taliban, said he was not confident about the chances of reaching a deal with the Taliban that would be acceptable to their opponents.

And any unbalanced deal forced on the Afghan people would quickly unravel into a fresh civil war, he said. "If the Taliban are back in the political process, being imposed on us, the Afghan people will definitely resist, paving the way for another war to happen," Zia Massoud told Reuters in an interview at his home in Kabul.

"If the Taliban want peace, we are ready to make peace, but if they want to fight, there will be a fight. That's it. If you coddle them, give them a political address and other gains, they will never be ready for any talks," he said.

The Taliban this month announced that the movement would open a political ffice in Qatar as a prelude to holding peace talks with the United States and its allies.